Please note the category of presentation to which you have been accepted, and read the description below for detailed information. The session types and other information will be helpful as you prepare your presentation.

As you prepare your presentation for OLC Innovate, you may consider taking advantage of our OLC Presenter Services, including presenter guides, essentials videos, webinars, and coaching. OLC Presenter Services offers guidance on best practices in audience engagement strategies, slide design, and delivery skills necessary to ensure a successful conference session. All sessions for OLC Innovate 2021 will be presented virtually.

Claiming Your Session | Session Types | Timeline |  Presentation Uploads

Claiming Your Session

Please note: You MUST follow the steps as listed below no later than Monday, November 30 to notify us of your intention to present virtually at the conference. If you do not actively follow these steps to accept to present, it will be assumed that you intend to withdraw your proposal. All affiliated presenters are notified, but only the lead presenter (typically the original author of the submission) is able to claim the session.

The schedule will be finalized in December. All presenters will be notified of the posting of the schedule via email. 

  1. Log in to your OLC user account from the OLC Conference Management System by selecting “Login” in the upper right. Please email conference@onlinelearning-c.org if you have any difficulty signing into your account. 
  2. Once logged in, you will be redirected back to the conference management system. 
  3. Click on “My Sessions” in the upper right hand corner. 
  4. Select the “Accept/Decline presentation offer” link for your session, and follow the prompts to accept or decline our offer to present. You will be asked to confirm several items of note in this process, including that you understand what your presentation type will be.

*Note if you accept our offer to present, you will also be asked to complete a streaming release form. The program is being planned in an all-virtual modality, so we require that all presenters who accept to present their session also answer in the affirmative to the streaming release form.

If you plan to join us for OLC Innovate, your next steps should be:

  • Review your OLC conference user profile in the conference management system to make sure it is complete and up to date with your name, title, affiliation, photo and bio.
  • Instructions for registration will be emailed to you once the program is posted later in November.  The deadline for presenters to register is January 20, 2021.
  • Once the program is posted, please review your session listing on the conference website. If any of your co-presenters are missing, please notify us immediately at conference@onlinelearning-c.org.  We will need their name, title, institution, and email address in order to be able to add them to your session.  
  • Send any abstract edits (title, abstract, co-presenters, etc.) to conference@onlinelearning-c.org no later than January 20, 2021. 
  • Plan to upload your presentation materials to your session page no later than March 1. Instructions and a session evaluation reminder slide will be emailed closer to the due date. 
  • Review the Presenter FAQ page. This page will be updated with additional information as the conference approaches.

We also ask that as you prepare, please think of your title and abstract as a promise you are making to the participants that this is the content that you will be covering in your session. As you plan your presentation, consider how your ideas for engagement will align to your session description so that participants can see the intended goals for the presentation and deeply connect with the content.

IMPORTANT: Be sure to add conference@onlinelearning-c.org to your email safe-senders list to ensure you continue to receive logistical emails from the OLC Conference team as the conference approaches. One of the biggest issues presenters encounter is not receiving important email updates from us because of institution spam-filters. Don’t let this happen to you!

Session Types and Descriptions

Please claim your session using the process outlined above. Note that as lead presenter, you MUST claim your session by the stated deadline (November 30) in order to officially accept this offer to present. The schedule will be posted in December, at which time presenters will be notified to review their session information in the conference program/session listing and contact conference@onlinelearning-c.org with any requested updates no later than January 20. 

The conference provides several session types:

1. Education Session

2. Workshop

3. Conversation, Not Presentation

4. Career Forum Roundtable

5. Discovery Session or Graduate Student Discovery Session (virtual-to-virtual only)

6. Pre-conference Workshop

7. Featured Session

8. Innovation Studio Design Thinking Challenge

9. Industry Showcase or National Sponsor Presentation

10. Exposition Foundry

 

 

1. Education Session

The total time allotted for your Education Session is 45 minutes. Please allow 5-10 minutes of that time for questions, answers, and discussion with the audience.

Education Sessions provide an opportunity for presenters to share their work, innovations, or new opportunities to the OLC community. The presenters are responsible for driving the conversation and encouraging deep thinking about a topic, sharing practical applications of their work, or providing new and varying perspectives. Although these are more traditional formats, the presenters/panelists should strive to make the sessions as engaging as possible through polls, audience discussions, and other forms of interaction.

Note: Presenters are responsible for providing all materials. Instructions for uploading materials will be provided to all accepted presenters. Presenters are also responsible for ensuring all attendees can actively engage in the session. Please see the Presenter Services and/or our Equity & Inclusion web pages for more information.

 

 

2. Workshop

The total time allotted for your workshop is 120 minutes. Presenters must provide an opportunity for questions, answers, and/or whole or small group discussion within the course of the workshop.

Workshops are designed with specific, identifiable learning outcomes with in-class opportunities to support collaborative and/or interactive group activities. Presenters will provide an opportunity for questions, answers, and/or whole group discussion within the course of the workshop and will describe how this element will be used to best engage participants. Workshops provide participants with tangible “take-away” information, models, and/or products and should be a more in-depth look into technological tools available in a shorter Information Session. Please develop a minimum of two to four learning objectives for your participants. These should be clear and measurable outcomes for the 120-minute workshop learning experience.

Note: Presenters are responsible for providing all materials. Instructions for uploading materials will be provided to all accepted presenters. Presenters are also responsible for ensuring all attendees can actively engage in the session. Please see the Presenter Services site for resources on making the session fully accessible. 

 

 

3. Conversation, Not Presentation 

The total time allotted for your Conversation, Not Presentation session is 45 minutes. Conversation, Not Presentation sessions are a unique session type at OLC Innovate, and require special attention by presenters in preparation for the session. Facilitation and shared exploration by the group is the focus of this interactive session. The audience may even help solve a dilemma or explore the topic you present. 

These sessions engage both the presenters and the attendees in a fun and unique OLC conference experience. Moving beyond traditional styles of presentations, attendees and presenters of this session type will have the ability to connect with the content and each other like never before. Presenters may draw upon well known games such as Jeopardy and Family Feud as example formats or inspiration. These sessions tend to draw large audiences, please be sure all attendees can be accommodated with the strategies used.

Conversation, Not Presentation sessions are intended to tap into the collective intelligence to address challenges and dilemmas in our field. For your session, think of yourself as facilitator more than presenter, emcee more than expert. Provide a brief introduction (five minutes or less!) of your topic or issue, seed some provocative questions, then step back and listen as the buzz begins to grow. Participants will dive into conversation with their own ideas, reactions and experiences, and you will tune in, stoke the flame, dig deeper or just observe. To close, offer a concluding thought or two, or simply step back and appreciate what you’ve created together.

We encourage you as a presenter to participate in the crowd source note-taking and contributions in the shared google doc.

Note: Presenters are responsible for providing all materials. Instructions for uploading materials will be provided to all accepted presenters. Presenters are also responsible for ensuring all attendees can actively engage in the session. Please see the Presenter Services site for resources on making the session fully accessible.  

 

 

4. Career Forum Roundtable

The total time allotted for your Career Forum Roundtable is 45 minutes. Please allow plenty of time in this roundtable format for questions, answers, and discussion with the attendees. Be sure to include discussion on the following topics (from the CFP):

  • What specific EdTech career issue, challenge, or opportunity will the proposed Career Forum address? (The proposal should lead with a clear statement of an issue, challenge or opportunity of significance.)
  • Who is the target audience for this Career Forum? [Example target audiences might include faculty (full-time and adjunct) at varying stages of their careers, university administrators, instructional design professionals, consultants, and entrepreneurs.]
  • What major discussion points will be covered? Do these points reflect contemporary EdTech trends and issues? Do they connect with current workforce innovation trends or opportunities? [A brief discussion protocol would be useful to include.]
  • What specific career-related takeaways (e.g., lessons learned, resources) will the Career Forum attendees glean from their participation?

In order to best serve the diverse needs of our participants, presenters are reminded to design conference experiences to be as interactive and engaging as possible. Presentations will set the stage for interaction, but should not dominate the entire session time.

Note: Presenters are responsible for providing all materials. Instructions for uploading materials will be provided to all accepted presenters. Presenters are also responsible for ensuring all attendees can actively engage in the session. Please see the Presenter Services and/or our Equity & Inclusion web pages for more information.

 

 

5. Discovery Session or Graduate Student Discovery Session

Discovery Sessions for Innovate 2021 will be fully virtual, asynchronous presentations that allow presenters to share their work, ideas, and innovations in a virtual presenter-to-virtual audience format. These sessions allow for a greater exchange of ideas and in-depth asynchronous conversations about important topics to the OLC and MERLOT communities. Discovery Sessions typically consist of 10-15 minutes of information shared by the presenter with a built-in asynchronous discussion via VoiceThread. Participants will be able to leave video, audio, or text comments for the presenters at any time during the conference in response to the presentation in VoiceThread.

Note: Each presenter will prepare an asynchronous digital presentation and upload the presentation to VoiceThread where voice-over comments should be added. You will receive additional instructions from OLC after the presenter registration deadline of January 20. 

 

 

6. Pre-conference Workshop

The total time allotted for pre-conference workshops is three hours. Presenters must provide an opportunity for questions, answers, and/or whole or small group discussion within the course of the workshop. 

Pre-conference workshop lead presenters will be asked to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlining the expectations of serving as a pre-conference workshop presenter.  This will include developing the workshop materials, helping promote the pre-conference workshop via social media, complimentary (lead presenter) and discounted registrations (co-presenters) based on achieving a minimum workshop registration level, etc.  

Workshops should be designed with two to four meaningful and measurable participant learning outcomes with opportunities for collaborative and/or interactive group activities​ that will be used during the session to achieve stated learning goals​.

Note: Presenters are responsible for providing all materials. Instructions for uploading materials will be provided to all accepted presenters. Presenters are also responsible for ensuring all attendees can actively engage in the session. Please see the Presenter Services and/or our Equity & Inclusion web pages for more information.

 

 

7. Featured Session

Thank you for agreeing to be a Featured or Invited Presenter.

The total time allotted for Featured Sessions is 45 minutes. Please allow 5-10 minutes of that time for questions, answers, and discussion with the audience.

Note: Presenters are responsible for providing all materials. Instructions for uploading materials will be provided to all accepted presenters. Presenters are also responsible for ensuring all attendees can actively engage in the session. Please see the Presenter Services and/or our Equity & Inclusion web pages for more information.

 

 

7. Innovation Studio Design Thinking Challenge

The total time allotted for your Innovation Studio Design Thinking Challenge session is 45 minutes. Please allow 5-10 minutes of that time for questions, answers, and discussion with the audience.

The studio is designed to highlight applied teaching, learning, management, and research for learning, all within an active learning space, design studio and collaborative makerspace. Exploring a specific challenge, pedagogical strategy, technological tool, research method, industry innovation, or leadership approach for participants to learn more about, experiment with, and implement immediately at all skill levels, the Innovation Studio Design Thinking Challenge sessions should be comprised of the following segments:

  • Prompt – a 5-minute facilitated, quick-start conversation to kick off the studio session.
    • i.e. – The facilitator presents a “how might we …” challenge to solve a particular problem.
  • Brainstorming: Understanding the Challenge – a 20-minute divergent brainstorm session to generate new ideas and solutions to the challenge. 
    • i.e. – Presenter facilitates a brainstorming session with planned activities and brainstorming approaches. 
  • Prototyping: Working Towards Solutions – a 20-minute convergent session for participants to process, refine, vote on, and even paper prototype the concepts and practices shared.
    • i.e. – Teams present solutions, narrow down top choices, identify practical next steps, and consider how they might apply in their own instructional context.

Note: Presenters are responsible for providing all materials. Instructions for uploading materials will be provided to all accepted presenters. Presenters are also responsible for ensuring all attendees can actively engage in the session. Please see the Presenter Services and/or our Equity & Inclusion web pages for more information.

 

9. Industry Showcase or National Sponsor Presentation

The total time allotted for your Industry Showcase or National Sponsor Presentation is 45 minutes. Please allow 5-10 minutes of that time for questions, answers, and discussion with the audience.

  • Design your presentation to be interactive and highlight how your company solves an issue that online and blended educators face.
  • Avoid an obvious sales pitch.
  • Solve a real-world problem – provide solutions or suggestions to common problems that educators or institutions face.

In order to best serve the diverse needs of our participants, presenters are reminded to design conference experiences to be as interactive and engaging as possible. Presentations will set the stage for interaction, but should not dominate the entire session time.

Note: Presenters are responsible for providing all materials. Instructions for uploading materials will be provided to all accepted presenters. Presenters are also responsible for ensuring all attendees can actively engage in the session. Please see the Presenter Services and/or our Equity & Inclusion web pages for more information.

 

9. Exposition Foundry

The Exposition Foundry is a new initiative for educators of all roles to come together to network, design and collaborate around critical issues and opportunities in our field. Sessions in the Exposition Foundry (or “The Foundry”) are designed by corporate partners and sponsors to bring together community members of ALL roles around topics related to innovation and change work in the field of online, blended, and digital learning.

Exposition Foundry sessions are interactive sessions, where facilitators and participants can share provocations via recorded video sessions hosted on VoiceThread. Like Discovery Sessions, these fully-online, asynchronous sessions are accessible during and beyond the conference, and attendees and community members will have the continued opportunity to comment, provide feedback, and further the conversation well past a typical 45 minute session.

Note: Each presenter will prepare an asynchronous digital presentation and upload the presentation to VoiceThread where voice-over comments should be added. You will receive additional instructions from OLC after the presenter registration deadline of January 20. 

 

 

Timeline

  • Deadline for presenters to accept is November 30, 2020
  • Program will be posted in December, 2020
  • Deadline for presenters to register is January 20, 2021
  • Final date for presenters to edit abstracts is January 20, 2021
  • Final presentation upload deadline is March 1, 2021

 

Presentation Uploads

As an accepted presenter, you are responsible for uploading your presentation materials as a pdf, PowerPoint file, or link (Prezi, VoiceThread, etc.) to your session in the OLC Conference Management System by March 1, 2021. The contributions will remain online as part of the conference materials after the conference. You will be provided instructions at a later date by the conference management team. Session abstracts and information about the presenters also will be included in the resource. 

IMPORTANT: In order to post your final presentation to your session page, you will need to log into your user account on the OLC Conference Management System. Presenters will be provided instructions on how to upload their presentation materials in February. Presenters are responsible for providing all materials. Presenters will also be provided a slide that we encourage them to insert at the beginning of their presentation to encourage attendees to provide evaluation feedback through the mobile app or website for their presentation.

OLC does not require a specific conference PowerPoint template for your presentation. We encourage presenters to use their own template to build their personal or institutional brand. If you wish to use an OLC PowerPoint template, one can be downloaded from the Presenter Services page or the Presenter FAQ page closer to the conference. 

Video tutorial – How to upload your presentation materials to your session page